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Tuesday, October 13, 2015

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Orlando is the No. 2 most affordable foodie city in the U.S., says recent study

Posted By Jessica Bryce Young on Tue, Oct 13, 2015 at 12:49 PM

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Where should you live to keep your wallet and your waistline equally fat? Only Portland, Oregon, beats Orlando for "gastronomic affordability," according to a new study.

Source: WalletHub

To find the most affordable foodie cities in the U.S., WalletHub analyzed the 150 most populated cities, looking at metrics ranging from the cost of groceries to the number of restaurants per capita. Here's where Orlando ranked on nine of WalletHub's key categories:

Gastronomic Affordability in Orlando (1=Best; 75=Avg.)
79th – Cost of Groceries
35th – Average Beer & Wine Price
49th – Number of Restaurants per Capita
30th – Ratio of Full-Service Restaurants to Fast-Food Establishments
1st – Number of Gourmet Specialty-Food Stores per Capita
19th – Number of Craft Breweries & Wineries per Capita
9th – Number of Coffee & Tea Shops per Capita
1st – Number of Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Shops per Capita
1st – Number of Grocery Stores per Capita

Which, TBH, doesn't make us look very good, and especially not very foodie. But it was our "diversity, accessibility and quality" that popped us to the top, ranking our little metropolis between acknowledged foodie havens Portland, Oregon, at No. 1, and San Francisco, No. 3.

(That's right, we beat San Francisco! And Oakland! And Seattle! What is this world?)

We did it by ranking high on affordability (things like food and beverage sales tax, grocery prices, and beer and wine prices) as well as on metrics like food trucks per capita, gourmet specialty food stores per capita, and food festivals per capita. Read more about the methodology of the study and find out where other cities placed here.

Diversity, Accessibility & Quality – Total Points: 70
Number of Restaurants per 100,000 Residents: Triple Weight (~14.5 Points)
Ratio of Full-Service Restaurants to Fast-Food Establishments: Full Weight (~4.8 Points)
Number of Food Trucks per 100,000 Residents: Full Weight (~4.8 Points)
Access to Healthy Food Options: Half* Weight (~2.4 Points)
Number of Farmers Markets & CSAs (Community-Supported Agriculture) per 100,000 Residents: Full Weight (~4.8 Points)
Number of Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Shops per 100,000 Residents: Full Weight (~4.8 Points)
Number of Craft Breweries & Wineries per 100,000 Residents: Full Weight (~4.8 Points)
Number of Coffee & Tea Shops per 100,000 Residents: Full Weight (~4.8 Points)
Number of Gourmet Specialty-Food Stores (e.g., candy stores, chocolatiers and cheese shops) per 100,000 Residents: Full Weight (~4.8 Points)
Number of Grocery Stores per 100,000 Residents: Full Weight (~4.8 Points)
Number of Butcher Shops per 100,000 Residents: Full Weight (~4.8 Points)
Percentage of Workers Involved in Agricultural Activities (used as a proxy for “food freshness”): Full Weight (~4.8 Points)
Number of Food Festivals per 100,000 Residents: Full Weight (~4.8 Points)

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